What are you watching?

[under_score]

Watching Creepshow on Shudder. I remember liking the old anthology movies growing up, although I never got into the horror comics that the movies, and by extension the show, are paying homage to. But it's a fun little series. Individual stories are as hit or miss as pretty much any other horror anthology, but the overall production is well done. I think they use the comic panel transitions very effectively at times.

Nice little D&D placement in episode 3:

 

[Giganotosaurus]

I did a lot of watching the past couple of days:
I finished the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation last night. It was rough sometimes, but I stuck through it. It has some great elements of story telling, but they can get drowned out by boring plots. In particular the last 2 episodes "Conspiracy" and "The Neutral Zone". Conspiracy was great! It was built up over several episodes, and had me at the edge of my seat all the way through it! But then it kinda felt like it wrapped up a little too quickly "Boom the head parasite is dead and all the others died as well conspiracy gone!". The Neutral Zone suffered from a superfluous B plot, I really don't care what a bunch of frozen 21st century morons are up to, get back to the Romulans! I'm looking forward to the second season as everyone tells me that it starts to get better.
Additionally I am pleasantly surprised that they killed off a major character! And it wasn't even in some over dramatic way, it felt kind of real.
I also watched Ralph Bakshi's Fire and Ice on youtube. All I have to say is Fun movie, great animation, terribly distracting skimpily clad women.
Finally I've been going through a local Spokane history show called "The Kings Guide" on youtube. It's a great source of factoids about local history:

 

[woodcutgames]

Bad quality, but the only movie ever done (to the best of my knowledge) on Manly Wade Wellman's "Silver John" character.

 

[TristramEvans]

God, the 70's were f****in' weird

 

[woodcutgames]

God, the 70's were f****in' weird

They really were. I like that, though

 

[Voros]

Speaking of the 70s and weird films...

It blows me away the films shown on TCM Underground. My teenage self would have loved the easy access to these trash classics.

Rene Cardona Jr., the son of the madman behind the classic Night of the Bloody Apes, directs the singularly strange Tintorera.


A bizarre Jaws rip-off that is really a melodrama about free love with the cult actress Susan George as its crux with more scenes of skinny dipping and tanlines than the shark attacks that occasionally (very occasionally) punctuate the rambling, stoned vibe of the film.

Despite the constant stream of nudity and a few softcore rolls in the hay the films portrait of late-hippie sliding into disco-cocaine free love is refreshingly good natured and consensual with none of the sleaziness or misogyny that one sees in the similar Black Emanuelle films by Joe D'Amato for instance.

In contrast though there is a lot of unjustifiable violence towards the poor sharks in this film and the later shark attacks are often absurdly gory and graphic as wetsuits of store-bought meat and entrails are ripped to shreds by the sharks.

And add to all this a soundtrack by none other than Basil Poledouris of Conan the Barbarian fame and a number of delightfully silly Eurodisco tracks.

The tonal clash is whiplash inducing, a terrible 'horror' film but fans of Eurotrash and camp should be thoroughly entertained.

God bless Scorpion Releasing for unearthing these truly idiosyncratic cult, trash and occasional underrated gems.

 

[Lofgeornost]

I did a lot of watching the past couple of days:
I finished the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation last night. It was rough sometimes, but I stuck through it. It has some great elements of story telling, but they can get drowned out by boring plots... I'm looking forward to the second season as everyone tells me that it starts to get better.
Additionally I am pleasantly surprised that they killed off a major character! And it wasn't even in some over dramatic way, it felt kind of real.

IIRC, Tasha Yar died because the actress, Denise Crosby, wanted off the show. I did think they made effective dramatic use of her death--it made that episode's villain, Armus, more menacing and evil than usual.

Last night was the final episode of the new All Creatures Great and Small on Masterpiece. My wife and I have really enjoyed it--given the way things are currently, its gentle sweetness is very welcome. And lots of cute animals, of course. I've been impressed by the performances, particularly the Farnon brothers. Samuel West does a good job of capturing the insufferable but ultimately likeable nature of Siegfried, and I've liked Callum Woodhouse's version of Tristan. I wasn't sure that I would, since I associate the role so much with Peter Davison.

One character that looms a good deal larger than in the original (based on my sketchy memory) is the housekeeper, Mrs. Hall. She's been well played by Anna Madeley, who (to my untutored ears) does a good Yorkshire accent. Her casting is an example of a trend I normally dislike--picking a considerably younger actor to play a character once given to an older performer. My wife dubbed this 'youthenizing' a role; it's become pretty standard in American TV remakes, like the new Hawaii 5-0 and MacGyver. Madeley is ~43, while the actress who played Hall in the earlier TV version was 62 when that series started. But she's good enough that I just don't care.

 

[E-Rocker]

Been watching the Disney Channel sitcom Good Luck, Charlie, the premise of which is teenager Teddy making a video diary for her baby sister.

Uncle Mel, when meeting Teddy for the first time: "Teddy? Charlie? Didn't your dad know any girls' names?"

 

[chuckdee]

Been watching the Disney Channel sitcom Good Luck, Charlie, the premise of which is teenager Teddy making a video diary for her baby sister.

Uncle Mel, when meeting Teddy for the first time: "Teddy? Charlie? Didn't your dad know any girls' names?"

I watched that with my daughter. And Girl Meets World. My last Disney shows to watch with the offspring.

 

[urbwar]

I'm watching this cheesy Chinese movie called Snakes. It's about a group that goes to some island to find a prehistoric fruit that might help cure cancer. The island has these giant snakes they end up fighting (they also got attacked by what looked like flying piranha). Its free on the Youku (a Chinese streaming service) Movie channel

 

[Brock Savage]

Chilling with a friend online, drinking G&Ts while watching a show on Netflix called Maniac. It's like a 90's dystopian tale as imagined by David Lynch and Terry Gilliam. I don't watch a lot of live action television but am liking this so far.

 

[Ghost Whistler]

Rewatching Enterprise.

One of the best Trek series. Come at me bro.

 

[Giganotosaurus]

Perseverance landing on Mars
It's incredible that an average shmo like me can see this.

 

[Lofgeornost]

Rewatching Enterprise.

One of the best Trek series. Come at me bro.

There were some episodes of that series I really liked. Which are your favorites?

The other night, flipping the dial (now there's metaphor that dates me) I saw some of Masters of the Universe (1987). I'd forgotten the cast: it has Frank Langella as Skeletor, Meg Foster as Evil-Lyn, a young Robert Duncan McNeill and Courteney Cox as earth teens that get involved in the shenanigans. And Dolph Lundgren as He-Man himself, of course.

 

[TristramEvans]

Rewatching Enterprise.

One of the best Trek series. Come at me bro.

Too bad the whole thing was just a Holodeck game...

 

[Giganotosaurus]

I got a question for all you film buffs, Has there ever been a case where Chekov's gun has been subverted well? Like if a gun is prominently shown, but never fired.

 

[Ghost Whistler]

Too bad the whole thing was just a Holodeck game...

Better than all of Riker's holoporn

There were some episodes of that series I really liked. Which are your favorites?

All of Season 4 (except the transporter episode) is solid gold. IMO one of the best trek seasons period.

Season 3 is an interesting one because it's the first season long arc trek ever did.

Thing is, it's worthy of critivism, but no more than any other Trek IMO. I get a kick out of it. It makes a lot of the mistakes all of next gen era trek did, but I don't mind that. The Borg episode is a lot of fun. Anything with Shran in, because Jeffrey Combs is always great value. The Ferengi episode is amusing. There are many fine episodes

 

[TristramEvans]

Better than all of Riker's holoporn

 

[Lofgeornost]

All of Season 4 (except the transporter episode) is solid gold. IMO one of the best trek seasons period.

Season 3 is an interesting one because it's the first season long arc trek ever did...

The Borg episode is a lot of fun. Anything with Shran in, because Jeffrey Combs is always great value. The Ferengi episode is amusing. There are many fine episodes

That's an interesting point about season 3. I'd say that DS9 came close in its Dominion War arc, but it was not as tightly focused.

I agree about Combs; I'm glad they kept him in the franchise. It was also nice to see the Andorians getting some use. I liked the basic idea of Enterprise, too--humanity's first extensive explorations into the galaxy. And its re-imagining of the human-Vulcan relationship made sense.

For me, Scott Bakula was one of the weak links. I actually found Connor Trineer as Trip a good deal more interesting.

 

[Voros]

Chilling with a friend online, drinking G&Ts while watching a show on Netflix called Maniac. It's like a 90's dystopian tale as imagined by David Lynch and Terry Gilliam. I don't watch a lot of live action television but am liking this so far.

It is good.

 

[Voros]

I got a question for all you film buffs, Has there ever been a case where Chekov's gun has been subverted well? Like if a gun is prominently shown, but never fired.

See the ending of Buffalo 66.

 

[chuckdee]

Rewatching Enterprise.

One of the best Trek series. Come at me bro.

You should work on that spelling. DS-9 isn't spelled like that.

 

[Lofgeornost]

Spoiler

yeah, they get married and solve mysteries as a husband and wife duo

[/QUOTE]

Last week, my wife and I finally finished with the Murdoch Mysteries series, so now I can read Tristram's spoiler! We've seen through the end of season 13, which is all we can get--I guess season 14 is currently airing.

Like any series that goes on that long, it has its good and bad episodes. In my opinion, it worked best as a police procedural mystery in the earlier seasons--maybe not the first, but the next several. In the later seasons, I was watching it more for the characters and for the light comedy, though it still had good mysteries sometimes.

One of the conceits of the show, though not of the books (as far as I know) is that Murdoch is an inventor who creates a lot of crime-fighting apparatus and ends up collaborating with many of the top minds of the day: Tesla, Bell, etc. The show also features a Canadian wonder-inventor, James Pendrick, who creates all kind of marvels before they actually occurred: powered flight, a suborbital rocket, an evacuated-tube subway system, etc.

One of my favorite bits in the show occurred when the writers decided to poke gentle fun at this concept. In one episode "From Buffalo with Love," Murdoch and his boss Brackenreid pursue an investigation to that city; Brackenreid goes to a tavern and becomes something of an inventor himself:

Brackenreid: I'll have a beer, and I'll take the chicken, please.
Chef: Agh, all out.
Brackenreid: Well then, I'll take whatever you've got.
Chef: I'm sorry, sir. Kitchen has no food left.
Brackenreid: Bollocks. What kind of restaurant has no food?
Chef: You're welcome to come see for yourself. All we have left is the refuse from the chicken special.
Brackenreid: What refuse?
Chef: Well, the wings--inedible.
Brackenreid: At this point I'd eat the bloody feathers. Fry 'em up.
Chef: Oh, but sir, they're just bone and skin.
Brackenreid: You're going to throw them away and I'm offering you good money instead.
Chef: Well, if you're sure...
Brackenreid: Go…
[Murdoch enters; Brackenreid is eating chicken wings]
Brackenreid: Care to join me?
Murdoch: What is that?
Brackenreid: Dinner. I put some of this spicy sauce on 'em. Try one.
Murdoch: No, thank you.
Brackenreid: Your loss. But I tell you, Murdoch, these chicken wings are the only good thing about Buffalo.
Chef: Lee, look at that. The Canadians are eating our garbage.

 

[Ghost Whistler]

You should work on that spelling. DS-9 isn't spelled like that.

You misspelt Babylon 5

 

[urbwar]

You misspelt Babylon 5

I almost posted that myself. Glad to see I wasn't the only one who thought that

 

[TristramEvans]

You misspelt Babylon 5

Is that how they pronounce Farscape where you're from?

 

[Chris Brady]

You should work on that spelling. DS-9 isn't spelled like that.

Why are you misspelling TNG like that?

As for me, I'm watching Shout Factory TV's rework of Space 1999. What a slow paced show.

 

[3rik]

Shout Factory TV's rework of Space 1999. What a slow paced show.

rework?

 

[chuckdee]

Why are you misspelling TNG like that?

As for me, I'm watching Shout Factory TV's rework of Space 1999. What a slow paced show.

The New Guy... Sisko. I see we're in agreement.

 

[chuckdee]

Is that how they pronounce Farscape where you're from?

Wrong F-word there. It should be Firefly.

 

[TristramEvans]

Wrong F-word there. It should be Firefly.

That's a strange translation of Lexx

 

[E-Rocker]

All y'all have funny ways of spelling Starhunter Redux.

 

[chuckdee]

That's a strange translation of Lexx

Great... now I have to watch that before I can tell you you're wrong...

 

[Lofgeornost]

I didn't know Pigs in Space! had an alias.

 

[TristramEvans]

Great... now I have to watch that before I can tell you you're wrong...

You are in for a weird ride my friend...

 

[E-Rocker]

I didn't know Pigs in Space! had an alias.

This is the correct answer.

 

[Brock Savage]

That's a strange translation of Lexx

Huh I thought I was the only person in North America who liked Lexx. When it was on everyone I knew liked to hate on it for reasons that are unclear to me. I think I will watch a few episodes and see if they aged well (I already know the CGI didn't but I can look past that)

 

[TristramEvans]

Huh I thought I was the only person in North America who liked Lexx. When it was on everyone I knew liked to hate on it for reasons that are unclear to me. I think I will watch a few episodes and see if they aged well (I already know the CGI didn't but I can look past that)

I can't for certain say whether or not I liked it, but I certainly remember it. It was unique. Reminded me of those ongoing European scifi comics that Heavy Metal would reprint like one random issue from, so you had no clear idea what was going on, and every character acted strange.

 

[urbwar]

I really don't get why everyone is forgetting that it's called Star Blazers. It's only been about 42 years since it first aired....

 

[chuckdee]

I really don't get why everyone is forgetting that it's called Star Blazers. It's only been about 42 years since it first aired....

Ok, I can get on board with this. Mostly because all these years later, the tune still sticks in my head (not 42 years, but still)